In 1969, a NASA researcher named Jack Cover began developing an electroshock device intended to be used as a non-lethal weapon that could be used by the military and/or police forces to subdue subjects. He named his device after a comic book astronaut named Tom Swift—it became “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle”, aka the TASER (registered trademark, by the way). Little did Dr. Cover know that he would not only create one of the most effective policing weapons in the world but also the device that would provide so entertainment and physical comedy to internet viewers all around the world at the TASER victims’ expense. Thanks, science!